Adelaide failed to back up their second win of a season from a fortnight ago, which came in an upset 2-1 win over Melbourne City.

Garuccio has played all 16 games for the Reds this season, mainly as a left-back and was tried as a winger against the Sky Blues by coach Guillermo Amor in the club’s 10th loss of the season.

He said the table-topping Sky Blues were in a good place mentally and admits it caught his team cold.

“Very tough game against Sydney, we had a bit of confidence coming off last week with the win,” Garuccio conceded.

“It’s a tough ask to go to Sydney and back that up again who are in great form at the moment, think you can tell the difference in the way the season has gone between the teams on Friday.

“They pinned us back a lot. They had the ball in our half and that limited our opportunities to go forward because we were so deep in our own half that when we got the ball it was very hard to form a good attack.”

Garuccio wasn’t worried about falling to the league leaders and was looking to Sunday’s game against the Wellington Phoenix – the only other team they have defeated this season.

The Reds are currently eight points behind the sixth-placed Nix.

“A lot of teams have been there and felt that this year in Sydney, I don’t think it’s anything to get too disheartened about,” he said.

“This week we’re back at home, one of the teams we’ve beaten this year so I think we take full confidence into that game.”